1. Berkeley: empirismo, nominalismo radicale e immaterialismo

In this video lesson, we learn about another empiricist philosopher, George Berkeley, born in Ireland in 1685 and died in Oxford in 1753. His main writings are: An Essay on a New Theory of Vision (1709) A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710) Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (1713) Alciphron (1732) Siris (1744) An empiricist like Locke, he believes that we know the world through experience. Like Locke, he uses the concept of idea, but unlike Locke, he maintains that humans cannot form abstract ideas because they are simply incapable of doing so. Do you remember the example we gave about the general idea of man in the video on Locke? For Berkeley, one cannot form a general idea of man, but rather one can form a particular idea by thinking of a specific man. Let me give you an example. Close your eyes and think of the most general and abstract idea of man possible. No matter how general you tried, you were never abstract and generalist. Therefore, for Berkeley, general ideas are not abstract ideas but are actually particular ideas. Yet, you were not wrong in thinking of a particular man. I'm sure you thought of a man, and therefore your man, chosen by you with conventional characteristics (e.g., black hair, green eyes, etc.), is also a man. This thought of Berkeley's goes by the name of radical nominalism because it maintains that general ideas are not abstract but particular. Essentially, I give a name to the things I experience. So the first important thing to know about Berkeley is radical nominalism. The second thing you need to know is summed up in the famous phrase, Esse est percipi (meaning, being consists in being perceived). Indeed, according to Berkeley, reality is a set of ideas that, in order to exist, must be perceived by the mind; otherwise, if the mind does not perceive them, they cannot exist. As a consequence of esse est percipi, Berkeley is a proponent of spiritualistic immaterialism because the philosopher maintains that things do not exist a priori, in an absolute sense, independent of our intellect. In fact, there are no things that exist outside our mind. Everything that exists exists because we have thought of it and is an idea that our spirit perceives through experience. Therefore, in essence, matter does not exist in and of itself but is knowable only by perceiving them with the spirit. Furthermore, ideas must necessarily have a cause, and this cause cannot be matter, nor another idea, because ideas lack force and action; they are inactive. So what is the cause of things? Is it our spirit? Actually, no, because Berkeley maintains that our spirit receives ideas passively. And so, for Berkeley, as for many others, the cause of everything is God, who is infinite spirit (unlike man, who is finite spirit) and who actively sends ideas through a law of nature where God establishes the rules by which we receive ideas. Existence also explains the existence of ideas even when they are not perceived by us but are instead perceived by God. It is as if these ideas exist in the hyperuranion, to borrow a term used by Plato, and only when perceived by us do they descend to earth. Finally, one last thing to know about Berkeley is his idea that natural religion is insufficient because it is not the fruit of authentic faith but rather a collection of various rituals and cults. For a religion to truly operate in the spirit, revelation is necessary. Subscribe to my channel, if you haven't already, to stay up to date on the videos I post. Also, visit my website by clicking the link in the description, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. See you soon. Dr. Laura Pirotta, clinical psychologist. ========================================================== Subscribe to my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8cR... Visit my website: http://laurapirotta.com Follow me on Instagram:   / dott.laurap.  . Follow me on Facebook:   / catego.  . You can also find me on LinkedIn:   / laurapiro.  . #philosophy #berkeley #laurapirotta #empiricism #nominalism